Jay Sean: 'There used to be times when you didn’t see Indians on television, or if you did it was the corner shop guy in EastEnders'

Making it big: Jay says hit song Ride It helped him to get recognised as a pop R'n'B singer

Jay Sean, real name Kamaljit Singh Jhooti, has four studio albums to his name and 22 awards from UK Asian Music to UK BMI Awards, but despite such a successful career, he found it hard to shake the 'Asian' pigeonhole.

Speaking to London Live, the 35-year-old rapper said: "I’m one of not even a handful of British Asian popstars who are maninstream. Of course I was always tagged as British Asian singer Jay Sean as opposed to pop R'n'B singer Jay Sean."

But it was hit song Ride It, which reached number 11 in the UK charts, that helped him to overcome the pigeonholing.

He said: “Ride it did it for me. Not only did the Asian community love it, but the black community and the white community got to hear about it. The song became such a big hit for me and got me noticed by the CEO's of Cash Money in America."

When asked what he thinks countries need to do to help break down stereotyping, the dad-of-one said: “England really is at the forefront of being a melting pot of all cultures.

"There used to be times when you didn’t see Indians on television or if you did it was the corner shop guy in EastEnders, but now they’re not as stereotypical and we’ve managed to fit in and blend really well. England does a great job of doing that.”

But despite his world-wide success, especially in the States where he has featured on the Jay Leno show, he is still very much a family man at heart.

Talking about where he stays when he comes back to London, he said: “With the family. If I came home and went to a hotel my mum she’d be like straight two back hands to my face. She’d be like 'Really you’re going to keep my granddaughter away from me?'."

He added: "All this stuff is wonderful and it's glamorous, but it lacks substance if you don't keep those real people around you."